A man accused of drugging his then-wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her over nearly a decade said in court on Tuesday, “I am a rapist, like everyone else in this courtroom.”
Dominique Pélicot, 71, pleaded for forgiveness and said: “I recognize the facts in their totality.”
He faces charges of rape and gang rape of his now ex-wife Gisele Pélicot, as well as privacy breaches by recording and disseminating sexual images.
He is on trial alongside 50 men, aged 26 to 74, of whom 14 have admitted rape while the rest deny wrongdoing.
Many of the defendants deny having raped Gisèle Pélicot, saying they were manipulated by her ex-husband or claiming they believed she was consenting.
“They all knew, they cannot say the contrary,” Pélicot said of his co-defendants in the trial.
Pélicot had previously confessed to investigators, but court testimony will prove crucial to convicting the other defendants.
He faces 20 years in prison if convicted.
There are hopes the case may shed some light on the motivation for the crimes, which have shocked the public in France.
Gisèle Pélicot was given permission to react to her husband’s confession.
She said, “For me, it is difficult to hear it.”
“For 50 years, I lived with a man who I would never have imagined for a single second that he could do these acts. I had complete confidence in this man.”
Ms Pélicot waived her right to anonymity in the case, agreed to a public trial and appeared openly in front of the media.
She has become a symbol of the struggle against sexual violence in France, and on Saturday, hundreds of women gathered in cities across the country to demonstrate support for her.
Dominique Pélicot went on to say: “I am accused of many things. We are not born perverts, we become them. Even if it is paradoxical, I have never considered my wife as an object.”
“I am guilty of what I did. I subjected my wife, my children, my grandchildren to this. I regret what I did. I ask for forgiveness even if it is not forgivable.”
The defendant pointed to alleged crimes he had suffered as a child, saying he was raped as a nine year old, and forced to witness another sex attack when he was 14.
“I remember nothing from my youth but shocks and traumas,” he said.
When he met his wife as a teenager. “I was very happy with her,” he said. “She was the opposite of my mother, who was completely rebellious. We had three children, and grandchildren, whom I never touched.”
He said Gisèle Pélicot “did not deserve this.”
Ms Pélicot lowered her head and put her sunglasses on at the end of Dominique Pélicot’s statement.
Last week, Mr. Pélicot’s daughter, Caroline Darian, 46, told the court that he was “one of the greatest sexual predators” of recent years.
She said he secretly took photographs of her naked, along with her two sisters-in-law.
Under French law, the proceedings inside the courtroom cannot be filmed or photographed.
Pélicot was first investigated by police in 2020 after a security guard caught him filming videos under women’s skirts in a supermarket.
Police searched Pélicot’s house and electronic devices, and found thousands of photos and videos of men engaging in sexual acts with Gisèle Pélicot while she appears to lie unconscious on their bed.
Police were able to track down most of the 72 suspects using the recordings.
Gisèle Pélicot and her husband were married for 50 years and had three children.
When police officers called her for questioning in late 2020, she initially told them her husband was “a great guy,” according to legal documents.
After being shown some of the photos, she left her husband and they are now divorced.
Pélicot is also facing a separate case, charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He also admitted to an attempted rape in 1999 after DNA testing provided evidence against him.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
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